Mechanical coupling



Paten'ted Nov. 24, 1936 UNITED STATES MECBANCAL COUPLING I Frank E. Bickerson, Chicago, m., assignor to tion o! Delaware Teletype Corporation, Chicago, m., a corpora- Application June 7, 1934, serial No. 729350 8 Claims. (CI. 287-119) The present invention relates to mechanical couplings and more particularly to couplings adapted to be used in connection with removable appliances such` as crank arms.

A primary object of the present invention is to provide a simple and durable mechanical coupling having a detent action so as to render appliances quickly and easily applicable' to or removable from a shaft or other connecting element.

In its preferred embodiment the present invention is shown as being incorporated with a removable crank arm such as isemployed for manually rotating a platen shait of a. telegraph printing apparatus. The apparatus towhich the present invention is particularly applicable is I provided with a removable cover', a prerequisite to the removal of which 'the platen shaft crank arm must be taken otr so that the cover side walls may be withdrawn' over the end of. the

shait.

The platen shai't is provided near its end with a perpendicularly extending anchor pin according to the well-known type of bayonet connectlons. The end of the shaft and thepin constitute the male section ot the coupling. or connection, the female section of which is comprised of a tubular extension integrally formed with a crank arm. A longitudinal groove of suitable width to receive the upstanding pin of the male section is provided in the tubular section, and

near the end thereof there is an annular recess traversing said longitudinal. groove Within the annular recess and into the rearmost portion of the longitudinal groove there is received a spring retaining ring shaped to'conform with the combined groove and recess and provided with a transverse opening or channel of irregular gauge. The channel is arranged to register withethe groove of the tubular' section and is narrowed at an intermediate portion thereof so as to resist the !ree passage of the upstanding pin when it' tire tubular section and integrally formed crank.

arm. The contour o! the side walls which denne the channel in the annular spring is such as to impart a perpendicular cam action so that with a reasonable manual eflort the resistance to the retaining pin may be overcome and the handle easily applied or removed.

For a better understanding of this invention reference should be had to the accompanying drawing and to the following speciiication in 5 which like reference characters designate similar parts throughout and in which,

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a. telegraph printing apparatus such as is more fully disclosed and described in United States 10 Patent to Morton et al. No. 1,904,164, showing applied thereto a removable crank arm embodying the features of the present invention,

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary plan elevation illustrating a mechanical connection similar to" the 1 one illustrated in Fig. 1, and A a Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view of 'the retainer ring embodied in the present invention and illustrated in connection with thestructures featured in Figs. 1 and 2. 2

Referring now more particularly .to the accompanying drawing, the reference character ll indicates the end of a rotatable shaft which in accordance with the particular illustration is associated with a printing platen of the vtelegraph printing apparatus generally indicated !2. Near the free end of sha ft there is provided a perpendicularly extending anchor pina [3 integrally formed with the shaft and preferably 4 of cylindrical shape. A crank arm Il has integrally formed with it anenlarged tubular section !5. 'I'he'shaft ll is adapted to chamber within the tubulai' section l5'whi1e the pin !3 is receivable within a longitudinal groove IS extending part way of the enlarged section IS. Near its foremost end, Fig. 1, the section IS is provided with an annular' recess l'l, bestgindicated in Fig. 2, which traverses the groove s and in conjunction therewith provides a trough 'or channel into' which is received a retaining' 40 spring' a. v

The main portion of spring I! consists oian annular ring having a transverse opening or channel at s, see Fig. 2. One side wall !I 'of the opening s is comparatively straight until it reaches the' remote extremity 'whence it mergeswith a reverse curve portion indicated 22. The

other side wall 23 is of uneven contour, as best indicated in Fig. 2, deflning 'a compounded curvature and in cooperation with the wall 2| aflords 'achannel that is narrowed at about the point indi- Acated 24, Flg. 2, and which widens again atabout ring |8 the free passage of pin |3 backwardly through the channel by reason of the obstruction of the narrowed or restricted portion 24. In passing the narrowed section 24, the pin |3 engaging the curvature of wall 23 cams away the wall section 23 against the tendencies of the annular spring |8 until`it is received in the wider portion of the channel indicated at where the' olearance is of sufllcient breadth to admit the `full width of the pin [3.

When the spring s is positioned on the tubular section !5, a transversely extending projection 26 thereof extends into the rearmost portion of the groove IE, indicated 21 in Figs. 1 and 2, and serves thereby to lock the ring s in position against peripheral displacement.

To apply the crank arm M upon the shaft ll, the end of shaft ll is inserted into the tubular opening of the enlarged portion |5 while the pin |3 is' brought into radial alignment with the groove IE. By applyng a slight pressure to the arm ll the pin |3 is brought to encounter the sidewall 23 and in cooperation with the inclined surfaces thereof, cams away the free end of ring !8 adjacent to side wall 23, thereby tending to widen the channel at point 24. After the pin I3 passes this point, it is received in a wider section of the channel indicated 25, where between the cooperatng walls 2| and 23, the pin 13 is securely retained and through it the assembly, in-

cluding crank arm M. Thus the spring retaining element featured in Fig. 3 serves not only in lieu of the catch toth ordinarily provided in the case of bayonet couplings, but by reason of its resiliency in both directions of cooperation it serves also in lieu of the spring element ordinarily provided to imp'art a resilien't end thrust.

It should be noted that by means of this structure in contradistinction with other connections of this class; for example, the standard bayonet type connection, the wall section of the tube !5 is `not materially weakened and that a secure connection is efiected without the aid of cumbersome or protruding elements. On the contrary, the foregoing described coupling or mechanical connection consists of a strong, simple structure having smooth and graceful lines. The handle may be quickly and easily removed or applied with but slight pressure.

While the present invention has been explained and described in connection with a preferred em- 'bodiment thereoi', it should be understood that numerous modifications and adaptations may be made without departing from the spirit or scope thereof. Accordingly, it is not intended to be limited by the specific language of the'fore'going specification nor by the particular details illustrated in the accompanying drawing, but to be permitted instead a latitude of interpretation as indicated by the hereinafter appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a mechanical connection, a section having a transversely extending pin, a section having a longitudinal channel for receiving said pin, and a retainer element comprising an annular spring member received in a recess of said channeled section and provided with a restricted transverse channel for cooperating with said pin.

2. A mechanical connection for eflecting a quickly detachable union between two cooperating elements comprising a section formed with one of said elements, a section formed with the other of said elements, a perpendicularly extending pin provided in said first section, said other section having a longitudinal groove for cooperating with said pin, and an annular retaining element fol-med of spring material surrounding said grooved section and having an opening for imparting transverse stresses to said pin to resist its free ingress and egress into said longitudinal grooves.

3. In combination with a rotatable shaft, a detachable connecting element comprising first and second cooperatng portions, a rigid projecting element carried by said first portion to be received longitudinally within a recess in said sec-' ond portion, and ayieldable retaining ring having a transverse split therethrough for detenting the free ingress and egress of said projecting element within said recess.

4. A socket structure comprising a tubular re- `ceptacle, and means for detenting cooperatng elements to be received in said socket comprising an encircling spring element afiording a restricted channel between adjacent end portions thereof for impeding the free ingress or egress of said co- Operating elements therewith.

5. In a mechanical coupling tor airording union between longitudinally communicating elements, a terminus having a projection, a terminus having a longitudinalslot tor receiving said projection; and a retaining element yieldable for resisting the free egress of said projection !rom said slot comprising an elastic ring having a transverse opening positioned in alignment with said slot.

6. In a mechanical connection, a section having a pin, a sectionhaving a channel for receiving said pin, and a yieldable retainer element surrounding said channeled section affording permissive ingress and egress of said pin within said channel without relative rotation of said sections.

7. In a mechanical coupling, a pair of connector members capable of longitudinal movement during conjunction, and means for detenting the operation of said members comprising an annular ring of elastic material transversely split to provide a recess and anchored to one of said members, and a detent element anchoredto the other of said members and adapted to be received between the edges ot said ring adjacent said recess.

8. A mechanical coupling including a driving element, a driven element, means for fltting said elements together longitudinally, means for preventing the relative rotation between said driving and driven elements, and a retaining member for yieldably resisting the disjunction ot said elements comprising an elastic circlet transverseiy split and anchored to one oi' said elements and a projection anchored to the other o'f said elements to be received within said split.

'- `FRANK H. RICKERSON. 

